On war crimes and crimes against humanity – a weekly news review

With so much talk about war crimes and crimes against humanity,
this week’s review looks at what is meant by these terms. It
illustrates them with examples from Turkey’s actions in Syria and
Iraq, and discusses the limits of the international mechanisms set
up to address them. It goes on to look at the constitutional crisis
besetting Turkey, as the Court of Cassation challenges the
Constitutional Court, and at the attempts by the new leader of the
Republican People’s Party to woo Kurdish voters. It ends with the
biggest crime against humanity – though not one recognised by the
International Court - the systematic crushing of every attempt at
progressive opposition to the status quo.